Abu Dhabi commission spotlights UAE

Commission to showcase local talent

The Abu Dhabi Film Commission is showcasing talent from the United Arab Emirates at the Berlinale.

As part of its partnership with the European Producers Club, the commission is hosting five UAE filmmakers who are at the fest to meet with international producers, financiers and distribution companies and explore production opportunities. Participants include Butheina Hamed Kazim, strategy and business development manager at Dubai Media; Eva Star Sayre, business director of Veritas Films; multihyphenate Nawaf Al Janahi (“The Circle”); Amina Dasmal, producer and founder of Alcove Entertainment; and Tim Smythe, producer and founder of Filmworks and co-producer of Paramount’s upcoming “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”

Hamed Kazim is the Emirati producer of the docu “Letters to Palestine” and was the curator of an Independent Films Program at Shelter in Dubai, while delegate Star Sayre exec produced “Teta, Alf Marra” (Grandma, a Thousand Times).

Dasmal, who produced the Toronto Film Festival’s 2007 Discovery Award-winning film “Cochochi” as well as “Siren” and “The Caller,” said discussions with European producers have been very helpful .

Commenting on the ongoing unrest in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, commission director David Shepheard stressed that the UAE remains a safe and stable region in the area.